FOCUSED — Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther’s Mallery Geistfeld focuses on the basket as she shoots a jumpshot over Madelia’s Ollieah Glover (15) during Valley Conference action Monday night in Granada. The Jaguars’ McKenna Benck and the Blackhawks’ Alicia Grebenc (back right) look on. (Photo by Greg Abel)

GRANADA — Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther head girls basketball coach T.J. Pytleski took a page out of a hockey playbook Monday night, using a five-in, five-out strategy to coast to a 68-25 running-time win over the Madelia Blackhawks.

Mallery Geistfeld proved perfect on five second-half field goals to generate a game-best 17 points for a balanced Jaguars’ effort that featured eight players in the scoring column.

Augustana University commit Katelyn Diegnau produced a double-double performance of 11 points and a game-best 11 rebounds to complement four blocked shots for the Jaguars, while teammates McKenna Benck and Olivia Mattson also reached double digits with 10 points apiece.

Diegnau’s 11 boards, combined with eight from Mattson and seven from Geistfeld, engineered the home team’s 45-32 rebounding edge.

“It was senior night, and we were able to get everybody into the game and every player contributed to the win,” said Pytleski, whose lineup forced 24 Madelia turnovers while committing only six on the Valley Conference game.

The 6-foot Diegnau reeled off the game’s initial six points to trigger the Jaguars’ 13-0 surge off the opening tip. Brooke Grathwohl delivered one of her three assists to Diegnau for an 8-footer in traffic before Diegnau drove the paint for a runner.

Geistfeld spotted Diegnau in the low post for a baseline leaner before Diegnau traded roles and zipped a pass to a cutting Benck for a 10-foot pull-up jumper.

Grathwohl threaded an entry pass to Diegnau for a low-post turnaround before Benck pocketed one of her three steals and drove the distance for a layup. Diegnau hit a solo free throw to cap the 13-0 run before Alicia Grebenc ended Madelia’s offensive drought with a solo free throw at the 12:31 juncture.

Mattson and Bethany Petrowiak spearheaded the Jaguar reserves’ quick six-point blast with Mattson driving the lane for a 10-footer. Bethany Petrowiak then swiped the inbound pass and hit a layup for two of her eight points before spotting Mattson for a bank shot from the lane for a 19-1 lead.

Victoria Hemmingsen, who topped the Blackhawks with nine points to go with six rebounds, went end-to-end on a steal-turned-layup to halt the visitors’ 0-for-12 shooting effort to open the game at the 11-minute mark.

Ahead 40-17 on the heels of a Hemmingsen 3-pointer, Geistfeld, Grathwohl and Benck combined to fuel the Jaguars’ ensuing 14-0 surge to create running time via a 35-point or more lead with 9 minutes to go.

Grathwohl finished with six points, three assists and three steals for the Jaguars.

Grebenc produced six points and five rebounds for Madelia, while teammates Katherine DeVlaeminck and Ollieah Glover pulled down eight and seven rebounds, respectively.

Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther (10-7) travels to Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial on Friday night. Madelia (1-15) plays host to Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial on Thursday night.

Madelia 12-13–25

GHECTML 38-30–68

GHECTML (68)

Diegnau 5-13 1-2 11, Grathwohl 3-6 0-0 6, Geistfeld 8-11 1-2 17, Fox 0-1 0-0 0, Benck 5-11 0-0 10, Lewis 2-4 0-0 4, Bethany Petrowiak 3-11 2-2 8, Mattson 5-11 0-0 10, Zaharia 1-5 0-0 2, Engelby 0-3 0-0 0, Brianna Petrowiak 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 32-79 4-6 68.

MADELIA (25)

DeVlaeminck 1-5 1-2 3, Glover 1-6 0-0 2, Ibeling 1-9 0-0 2, Hemmingsen 4-6 0-0 9, Grebenc 1-10 3-6 6, Facundo 0-5 0-0 0, Lugo 1-5 0-1 2, Grev 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 9-47 5-11 25.

3-pointers: Madelia 2-14 (Hemmingsen and Grebenc 1 each); GHECTML 0-11. Rebounds: GHECTML 45 (Diegnau 11, Mattson 8); Madelia 32 (DeVlaeminck 8, Glover 7). Assists: GHECTML 15 (Fox 4, Grathwohl 3, Mattson 3); Madelia 2. Steals: GHECTML 16 (Grathwohl, Benck, Bethany Petrowiak 3 each); Madelia 5. Blocks: GHECTML 7 (Diegnau 4).

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Boys Basketball

Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial 64, Martin County West 56 — The Class 2A No. 6-ranked Knights capitalized on sinking 17 of 21 free throws to edge the Class 1A No. 3-ranked Mavericks by eight during a clash of Valley Conference titans on Monday night in Lake Crystal.

LCWM dealt MCW its first loss of the season by halting the visitors’ incredible 16-game winning streak.

Zack Wells scored 18 points to pace a balanced Knights’ attack, while teammate Ethan Anderson sank five 3-pointers en route to a 15-point performance.

Mitchell Weber led all scorers by producing 22 points for MCW, while Tanner Sinn collected 17 points and seven rebounds.

Zach Anderson generated eight points, six boards, four steals and three assists for the Mavericks, who made 11 of 17 free throws on the contest.

Jamis Ulman added nine points for LCWM, which held a 30-21 halftime lead

Martin County West (16-1) travels to St. Clair on Thursday night, while LCWM (15-4) hits the road to Madelia on Thursday.

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Blue Earth Area 61, Tri-City United 58 — Gabriel Torres produced solid all-around numbers and Ashton Lloyd neared a double-double to steer the Bucs to a three-point non-league win over the Titans on Monday night in Montgomery.

Torres tossed in 19 points, pulled down seven rebounds, pocketed five steals and distributed four assists, while Lloyd scored a game-best 26 points and grabbed eight boards.

Austin Skaden scored eight points and garnered five steals for the Bucs, who made 24 of 65 field goals and 8 of 17 free throws on the game.

Hank Holicky tallied 21 points to top TCU.

Blue Earth Area (8-7) travels to Fairmont on Friday night for a Big South Conference game.